Disposable food packaging which allows consumers to transport, open and eat a food product at any desired location and then readily dispose of the food packaging have risen in popularity in recent years. More particularly, there has been a demand for such disposable packaging which provides a soft or flowable food product together with another, solid food product on which the flowable food product is to be applied prior to consumption.
For instance, currently cheese and cracker packaging is popular, wherein a polymeric material such as PVC is thermoformed to form a two compartment package for storing a cheese product in a first compartment and crackers in the second compartment. A thin film of flexible thermoplastic material extends over the top of the packaging and forms a hermetic peelable seal to maintain freshness of the food stored in the packaging. A flat spreading implement is inserted into the second compartment after insertion of the crackers and prior to its being sealed with the plastic film. The spreading implement serves as a knife whereby, after the peelable film is removed, the cheese product is scooped out of the first compartment and spread over the crackers.
There is considerable expense associated with the provision of equipment for inserting a spreading implement into each package. Also, difficulty has been encountered in properly inserting the spreading implements into the packaging. It is desirable that the spreading implement be placed atop the stack of crackers. However, in some cases, the spreading implements tend to fall to one side of the stack, which makes access to the implement more difficult for the consumer, and is therefore unacceptable. The necessity to maintain quality control with respect to inclusion of the spreading implements and proper placement thereof can result in costly production interruptions to adjust the insertion equipment.